Media Mentions

The cuts come as the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs continue to struggle with an average of 20 suicides a day among veterans. "We are very concerned," said Karen Ruedisueli, Governemtn Relations Deputy Director at the National Military Family Association. "We already get complaints from families not able to access behavioral health care... High quality mental health care is a moral imperative after 15 years of war."

"We are hearing from both families and dental providers with concerns about the new dental network, and we are conveying those concerns to both the Defense Health Agency and the appropriate committees on the Hill," said Karen Ruedisueli, deputy director for government relations at the National Military Family Association.

MilSpouse Fests are put on in various parts of the United States with hopes of drawing spouses from every branch of the military, Danya Devine, senior manager of community events, said. Presenters included MJ Boice, staff writer for National Military Family Association. Boice encouraged the spouses in attendance to utilize their talents and be an advocate for something they have a passion for.

The documentary follows a group of comedians on a mission to provide laughter for U.S troops stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq. Jordan Brady, the creator of the documentary also said, “We wanted to recognize the important work that National Military Family Association, Operation Gratitude and other charities are doing, supporting troops and their families throughout and, importantly, after their service. I hope that I Am Battle Comic sparks conversation and donations.”

A program that blocks the deportation of military spouses and families who are not U.S. citizens while their spouse is deployed may be at risk under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “We don’t want our deployed service members worried while they are on deployment,” said Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association. “There are so many stressors on military families, we don’t need people in harm’s way in support of our nation to be worried about stuff like this.”

"Especially for families in remote or high-cost locations or families living overseas, [the commissary] is a very valuable benefit and really vital to their well-being," said Eileen Huck, Government Relations Deputy Director at the National Military Family Association and an active duty Navy spouse. Huck said she's worried that changing how commissaries operate could fundamentally alter what they're all about.

A letter sent Wednesday to service men and women at Army Garrison Wiesbaden in Germany said all part-day preschool and day-care programs would close due to a government-wide hiring freeze, which was one of Trump’s first actions in office. Kelly Hruska of the National Military Family Association said parents at Fort Knox received a similar letter. “No parent wants to worry about their child," Hruska said. "And so this just adds additional stress.”

In a recent survey of 9,000 military spouses, 30 percent who use a military hospital reported they rarely or never get an acute care appointment within the 24-hour access standard, a finding reinforced by the Defense Health Agency’s own transparency data. “Service members can’t focus on the job if their spouse can’t get a job, their sick child can’t get a doctor’s appointment or if there’s not quality childcare available,” Joyce Raezer, NMFA’s Executive Director added.

After the Jan. 21 murder-suicide at Fort Hood, representatives with the National Military Family Association told the Statesman that suicides among military wives, husbands, and children appear to be up, but not enough study has been done on the issue. “Anecdotally, we have heard that suicide rates among military families have increased,” Karen Ruedisueli, Deputy Director of Government Relations for the association said. “As deployments decrease, people may think that behavioral health resources for families are no longer needed. The residual effects will be long-lasting.”

NMFA Executive Director Joyce Raezer told Federal News Radio if the President and Congress increase military end strength, her organization would like to see a proportional increase in personnel support funding. “That would be childcare centers, staffing and resources at the family centers, health care access. If we add more troops to the force, but don’t change the resourcing for our military health care facilities then what will probably happen is our families will probably have a harder time getting a medical appointment for themselves or their kids,” Raezer said.

“We need to look at best practices for supporting military kids as they move from state to state and make sure they are adopted by school districts everywhere,” said Eileen Huck, deputy director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, who also agreed with researchers' conclusions regarding "the importance of high, consistent academic standards."

"Military families need your commitment to provide the necessary support to promote family readiness," the National Military Family Association wrote in a message to Mattis, a retired Marine general who is beginning his first full week of work in the Trump administration. "Military family support and services should not be casualties of budget battles on Capitol Hill, and we are ready to arm you with the information to justify their necessity and end sequestration."

BlueStar HonorCare has committed to a yearlong partnership with NMFA, pledging to donate a portion of every dollar of revenue to the organization. "In many ways, NMFA's mission parallels BlueStar's mission to serve veterans and their spouses as they age," said BlueStar HonorCare's Chief Executive Officer Rear Admiral Robert O. Wray, Jr. (ret.).

It is a risky move for the military community – troops, families, retirees and disabled veterans -- that depends on the stores, said Eileen Huck, government relations deputy director for the National Military Family Association. “If you break this system, how possible is it going to be to right the ship?” Huck said. “This is an entirely new business model. This isn’t something that they’ve ever had to do before.”

Urgent care referrals won't be required, allowing greater access to that care to military families and ending other common care problems — the need to visit an emergency room to treat an ear infection or sore throat, for instance, according to the National Military Family Association. The NMFA called this part of the bill "the most significant win" among the family health care provisions; it would take effect no later than a year after the bill does.

firsthand that it’s costly for military spouses to start and stop their educations because of frequent moves, separations, and other challenges of the military lifestyle,” said Joyce Raezer, NMFA executive director. “It also delays their entry into the workforce, which really affects these families’ financial stability. NMFA started this scholarship and professional funds program to help reduce the extra out-of-pocket costs military families bear due to their service to this country. They already sacrifice a lot, so it’s important that we level the playing field where we can.”

The push, lead by officials at Got Your 6, includes signatures from the leaders at AMVETS, the Marine Corps Reserve Association, the National Military Family Association, Wounded Warrior Project and others.

“The past three years, the pay raise has been lower than the Employment Cost Index (ECI) … in the military it’s spelled out in law that their pay raises would not drop below ECI,” said Kelly Hruska, government relations director for the National Military Family Association. “Service members include this in their family budgeting.”

“When a service member is transitioning, their entire family is transitioning with them,” said Besa Pinchotti, communications director at the National Military Family Association (NMFA). “Their own education and career are put on the back burner. The biggest challenge is the frequent moves and uncertainty of everything, and not knowing where their next deployment is. You can’t really plan for it.”